Roundup Review | Top streaming recommendations for April 17

Features and entertainment writer Josh Mandell breaks down his top music, TV and movie picks for the week: "NEVER ENOUGH," "Wishful Thinking," "Notting Hill" and "Beef." Photo collage by ANGELINA HICKS, editor-in-chief

“NEVER ENOUGH” | Daniel Caesar   

Daniel Caesar’s music has been a staple in my life for over five years now. He is one of the first artists that come to mind when I think of my favorites and one of the best R&B artists to ever do it. He has been a constant in the industry since the release of his first album, “Freudian” in 2017 and has continued to build on that, creating the illustrious career he has today. On April 7 he released his third studio album, “NEVER ENOUGH." He stated that he is on a “journey of self actualization” and that shows up quite literally everywhere on this album. 

The album runs about an hour long with 15 songs to enjoy or to make you cry, but who's to say you can’t do both? The album is intimate and provides listeners with vulnerable and introspective lyrics that make you want to break up with your significant other and be miserable so you can relate better to the despair.. 

The album opens with “Ocho Rios,” which presents distinctive instrumentals and Caesar’s falsetto voice. The song highlights his regret of how he treated a woman who was there for him at his lowest. “Girl, I was lost, 'til you found me here / My hair was long, but my head was low and now I'm here / Cause you made it so / Girl, I don't deserve you, you're the one I turn to / Never meant to hurt you / You're my saving grace.” Caesar gets introspective as realizes his regrets and his treatment of others, while also appreciating people for loving him no matter the circumstance. 

My favorite song on the album is the gut-wrenching, heartbreaking, punch in the stomach that is “Always.” It is a reflective song of a past relationship and the love that will always be there. “And I don't care if you're with somebody else / I'll give you time and space / Just know I'm not a phase / I'm always.” “Always” is not the deepest song on the album, but it definitely appears to have the most weight behind it. You can feel the history and the love that he pours into the song that truly transcends past the sound. 

The album comes after nearly a four-year hiatus following his last album, “CASE STUDY 01." It’s hard to talk about Caesar without talking about why he took that time off. In 2019, Caesar defended an influencer who made controversial, racist comments. He soon realized the extent of his comments and the widespread effect they had, resulting in him asking people to cancel him, which they did. He apologized almost instantly for what he said, but four years later as he has come back into the public eye, he is asking for forgiveness again. During an interview with Apple Music he said, “After taking time to get over myself and to really honestly look at myself and everything that was happening, I was wrong. I was wrong, and I’m sorry about that.”

To me, Caesar is an R&B heavyweight and after his road bump, I don’t think he is going anywhere for a very long time. Not only has he been nominated for nine Grammy awards, but he has delivered three flawless albums,  “Freudian," “CASE STUDY 01" and now “NEVER ENOUGH." 

“Wishful Thinking” | grentperez 

My mom sent me this song, and usually that comes with a sigh, a regretful listen and then I never listen again (sorry, Mom). This time was different, I clicked the link and my ears were blessed with the smooth vocals of grentperez. His voice has a calming elegance that makes me feel like everything is going to be okay. grentperez has released a couple of EPs and multiple singles, but he has not released an album yet. While I anxiously await a hopeful album one day, the rest of his discography is truly lovely. 

“Wishful Thinking” opens up his EP “Trail Mix Tape” released in September 2022. While it sounds positive and gives summer vibes, the lyrics are rather depressing. He stated in an interview with Wordplay Magazine that the song is about “a relationship that is yet to be, to daydream a lifetime’s worth of love from the moment you met that special someone." The song is a display of the universal feeling of daydreaming about love — creating whole stories in your head about what could be and how your life would be with the other person. 

This song really is a joy to listen to. Yes, Mom, you were right, everyone listen to my mom and check out this amazing song.   

“Notting Hill”

This movie screams 90s romantic comedy in all of the best ways imaginable. Carried by two absolute superstars Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts, this 1999 film is an incredibly beautiful display of life and love. If you haven’t figured it out by now, romance is my favorite film genre and this movie is a top three favorite of mine. I find myself watching this film with childlike glee as a generally predictable story is transformed into truly a lovely viewing experience. 

“Notting Hill” premiered in May of 1999, grossing nearly $360 million, making it Britain's highest-grossing comedy of all time. It received three Golden Globe nominations, including best motion picture musical or comedy, best actress and best actor in a musical or comedy. While it didn’t take home any Golden Globes, it did win the audience award at the BAFTAs.

The film is centered around a young divorcee, William (played by Hugh Grant), who owns a small travel book store in Notting Hill. One day, a huge movie star named Anna Scott (played by Julia Roberts) walks into the store and the two hit it off. Throughout the film, their relationship is explored through the difficulties of her stardom and the media on top of all of the normal adversities a couple faces. The film is a masterclass in the way it’s written, but that should come as no surprise as Richard Curtis wrote it, who also penned “Love Actually,” “Four Weddings and a Funeral" and of course my favorite, “About Time.” 

Part of why I love this movie so much is that it doesn’t shy away from the simple fact that life gets in the way sometimes. Many movies “based in reality” seem to ignore the fact that life is a real obstacle, but I guess that fantastical element is what makes movies, movies. This births one of the most famous movie lines of all time, “I’m just a girl standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her.” All of that seems to be a common theme in all of Curtis’ films as the other three films I mentioned all have “life” metaphorically as a character itself.

“Notting Hill” is an absolute classic romance movie and is worth the watch. It leaves Netflix on April 30, so go rush to see it before it is too late. 

“Beef”

So rarely do I feel like a show can simultaneously keep my focus, make me think critically and enthrall me in the content. “Beef” manages to do all three in what were a brilliant 10 episodes. The show will have you laughing, cringing, crying and yelling at the characters as you watch them stumble their way through life as it crumbles around them. The show stars Steven Yeun and Ali Wong and their performances are astonishing in this brand-new A24 and Netflix miniseries. 

“Beef” debuted on Netflix just a couple of weeks ago on April 6 and is already taking the world by storm. The show has received an insanely wide variety of praise as VOX called it “the best show Netflix has had in recent memory,” and NBC News said it was “one of the best shows of the year.” If that doesn’t grab your attention, the show also received a 99% on Rotten Tomatoes and an 86% on Metacritic. 

The show follows Danny (played by Yeun) and Amy (played by Wong), two people who after being involved in a road rage incident realize they share a lot more in common than meets the eye. Both of their lives are seemingly collapsing around them as they are barely able to stay afloat. Slowly, road rage incident begins to become more and more present in their lives, eventually consuming them. 

The show was created by Lee Sung Jin, who has written many episodes of television before he got the reins to this one. Jin worked on episodes of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” “Dave” and “Silicon Valley,” among others. I wanted to highlight those shows he previously worked on because “Beef” feels influenced by those three in many different ways. The comedy and awkward beats the characters go through are a beautiful mix of all three. The show is absolutely brilliant in what I would call a strange watch. Check it out on Netflix.